Staff in the Colorado Department of Transportation designed a cart to make it safer and quicker to replace plow blades. Traditional methods require a two-person team, but the cart allows one person to do it without reaching under the truck. The device was recognized under AASHTO’s Innovation Initiative.
Using the cart, workers don’t touch the blades. Instead, they put the cart’s hooks through holes in the blade, then lift and move the blade to the snowplow and attach it by tilting the cart. One person can replace the blade quickly, usually in less than a minute. Blades can be removed by reversing the process.
The increased efficiency allows crews to process more vehicles in less time. Plows are deployed more quickly, and customers get better service. The multi-purpose cart can also be used for transporting blades for equipment such as motor graders, tow plows, and skid plates on a mower deck.
AASHTO’s Innovation Initiative advances innovation from the grassroots up: by agencies, for agencies, peer-to-peer.
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